Browser applications have become ubiquitous tools for accessing the vast amounts of information that are available via computer networks, such as the Internet and the like. At its basic level of operation, the browser permits a user to connect to a given network site, and download informational content from that site, such as an HTML document, for display at the user's computer. To view additional information, or a different type of information, the user designates a new network address, e.g. a different HTML file, whose contents then replace the previously displayed information on the user's computer.
To alleviate the need to navigate from one network site to another to view different types of informational content, portals are being employed on a more common basis. In general, a portal is an entry point or gateway for access to Internet web sites, or the like. One of the prominent advantages of a portal is the fact that information stored at a plurality of different network addresses, including different sites, can be simultaneously viewed on the display, rather than limiting the user to information from one site at a time. Most companies and organizations provide different types of portals for a variety of purposes, including portals for the general public, intranet portals for their employees, and extranet portals for their customers, vendors, supplies and other parties with whom they transact business.
While the organizational needs served by a portal continue to grow, so have the complexity and cost of developing, deploying, administering and continually enhancing portals. To maintain the continued interest of portal users, administrators must carry out an ongoing effort to maintain portal content that is fresh, deep, customizable and sufficiently broad that their constituents will consider them to be a meaningful gateway to the Internet. On its intranet, an employer must often compete with public portals for the attention of its employees. Furthermore, companies and organizations are forced to either maintain staffs of highly skilled engineers and content developers, or to outsource these tasks. Meanwhile, Internet-related technologies are proliferating and maturing, and Internet users' expectations continue to increase. Maintaining an effective portal often competes with and detracts from the resources available for an organization's primary goals.